Almost everyone has had the experience of feeling drowsy while driving, especially given our busy lifestyles and tendencies to stay up late or forgo the sleep we need to stay fully rested. While drowsy driving may seem fairly innocent, it can have very serious consequences. This is especially true for drivers of commercial semi-trucks, who can easily lose control of their vehicle and cause an accident if they start to drift off to sleep even for a few seconds. If you have been injured in a truck accident, drowsy driving may have been a contributing factor, and you could be entitled to compensation from multiple liable parties.
What Causes Drowsy Driving?
Drowsy driving, otherwise known as driver fatigue, can happen for many different reasons. Lack of sleep is one of the most common, including in cases in which the driver generally does not get the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep each day, as well as cases in which the driver is on the road late into the night. Drowsiness is also a common side effect of many medications, and it can start to take hold when a driver has consumed alcohol or certain other drugs.
Among commercial truck drivers, however, one of the most prevalent causes of drowsy driving is the pressure to work long hours, most of them behind the wheel, in order to meet delivery schedules. In order to curb this problem, there are federal regulations in place that limit a driver’s hours of service.
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